The Apple MacBook Pro 16 (2021) is often less expensive, offers better battery life, and higher screen brightness, making it suitable for on-the-go use and working in bright environments. With MacOS and a less gaming-oriented appearance, it's a fit for professionals needing a high-quality screen with faithful color representation. The Razer Blade 18, however, has a larger screen, is more suitable for intensive gaming, and features the latest high-end processor and graphics card for top-notch 3D, machine learning, and engineering performance. It has a Windows operating system and RGB keyboard lighting, catering more to gamers and users requiring more raw computing power. The tradeoff is less battery life and higher weight, making it less portable. Give Feedback
this description is based on the product variant with some specs and product variant with some specs. At the time of writing, the variant with some specs cost some dollars and the variant with some specs cost some dollars.
Advantages of the Apple MacBook Pro 16 (2021)
Excellent for general use
Excellent overall display quality
Best in class overall build quality
Good portability
Best in class battery life
Best in class keyboard
Advantages of the Razer Blade 18
Excellent for engineering and design
Very good for gaming and AI
Key differences
Gaming and AI
7.0/10
8.9/10
5.0/10
OVERALL GPU SCORE
8.9/10
3456 x 2234
RESOLUTION
2560 x 1600
120Hz
REFRESH RATE
240Hz
No
SUPPORTS DLSS
Yes
No
MUX SWITCH / ADVANCED OPTIMUS
Yes
8.7/10
FAN NOISE SCORE
7.2/10
The Razer Blade 18 is very good for gaming and AI, while the Apple MacBook Pro 16 (2021) is good.
The Razer Blade 18 excels in gaming with its high-performance NVIDIA RTX GPU and a screen refresh rate of 240 Hz, which is ideal for fast-paced gaming, whereas the Apple MacBook Pro 16, with its custom Apple GPU and a 120 Hz refresh rate, is well-suited for 3D tasks but is limited in its gaming capabilities due to compatibility issues with many popular games and a lower refresh rate.
Engineering and Design
8.7/10
9.3/10
7.5/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
9.9/10
5.0/10
OVERALL GPU SCORE
8.9/10
32.0 GB
RAM
32.0 GB
The Razer Blade 18 is excellent for engineering and design, while the Apple MacBook Pro 16 (2021) is very good.
The Apple MacBook Pro 16 with its Apple M1 Pro chip and integrated GPU has solid performance for engineering and design, along with a high-quality mini LED screen, but the Razer Blade 18, with a more powerful Intel i9 processor and Nvidia RTX GPU, provides stronger performance for such tasks, and also boasts an excellent screen, although it is less portable due to its larger size and weight. While the MacBook Pro offers better battery life and is more portable, the Razer Blade's superior processing and graphical capabilities, as well as its equally high-quality screen, make it exceptionally well-suited for intensive engineering and design work, despite being noisier and heavier.
Screen Quality
9.4/10
8.9/10
16.2in
SIZE
18.0in
3456 x 2234
RESOLUTION
2560 x 1600
Mini LED
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
IPS
120Hz
REFRESH RATE
240Hz
497.0 nits
BRIGHTNESS
524.0 nits
The Apple MacBook Pro 16 has a better screen than the Razer Blade 18 for general use, engineering and design, software development, and content creation, while the Razer Blade 18 has a better screen for gaming and AI.
The Apple MacBook Pro 16 (2021) excels in screen quality for general use and engineering due to its high-resolution display that delivers sharp visuals with vibrant colors, thanks to an expansive color gamut and impressive brightness. However, it falls short for 3D applications as it lacks the higher refresh rates required for fluid motion rendering often needed in gaming and animation-heavy tasks.
The Razer Blade 18 provides excellent screen quality for general use and engineering as well, featuring a bright, high-resolution display that covers a wide color spectrum, but it's not ideal for gaming and 3D because its refresh rate doesn't match the rapid frame changes demanded by these activities.
Battery
17.5 Hours
4.0 Hours
The Apple MacBook Pro 16 has 17.5 hours of battery life. The Razer Blade 18 has 4 hours of battery life.
Battery life estimate is based on a mix of common use patterns. More portable and higher performing laptops tend to have less battery life.
Portability
Good
Fair
16.2in
SIZE
18.0in
4.7 lbs
WEIGHT
6.6 lbs
0.6in
THICKNESS
0.8in
The Apple MacBook Pro 16 (2021) has good portability, while the Razer Blade 18 has only fair portability.
The most portable laptops are small, thin, and light.
Build Quality
10.0/10
8.5/10
The Apple MacBook Pro 16 (2021) has best in class build quality, while the Razer Blade 18 has very good build quality.
PerfectRec’s Build Quality Score incorporates case materials, display and keyboard flex, hinge quality, and overall reliability.
Cost
$1,949
$10
$0
$500
$1,000
$1,500
$2,000
$2,500
$3,000
The Apple MacBook Pro 16 (2021) has a price of $1,949 and the Razer Blade 18 costs $10.
Although they have very similar scores, PerfectRec considers Apple MacBook Pro 16 (2021) to be excellent for general use, while the Razer Blade 18 is very good.
The Apple MacBook Pro 16 (2021) delivers a balance of high performance with its Apple M1 Pro processor and robust RAM, alongside a high-quality Mini LED screen, and excels with its extended battery life and relative portability for its powerful internals. In contrast, the Razer Blade 18 provides ample storage and equally impressive performance thanks to its i9 processor and a dedicated Nvidia GPU, while offering a larger IPS display suitable for a variety of uses but with a tradeoff in terms of shorter battery life and reduced portability due to its larger size and heftier weight.
Content Creation
8.8/10
8.6/10
7.5/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
9.9/10
3456 x 2234
RESOLUTION
2560 x 1600
32.0 GB
RAM
32.0 GB
Mini LED
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
IPS
The Apple MacBook Pro 16 (2021) and Razer Blade 18 are both very good for content creation.
PerfectRec’s Content Creation Score takes into account the many different features of the laptop that make it more or less suitable for photo editing, video editing and other content creation tasks.
Software Development
8.9/10
8.5/10
7.5/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
9.9/10
32.0 GB
RAM
32.0 GB
3456 x 2234
RESOLUTION
2560 x 1600
9.5/10
KEYBOARD QUALITY SCORE
9.0/10
The Apple MacBook Pro 16 (2021) and Razer Blade 18 are both very good for software development.
PerfectRec’s Software Development Score takes into account the many different features of the laptop that make it more or less suitable for software developers.
Give feedback
We’re constantly working to improve.
How the Apple MacBook Pro 16 (2021) and the Razer Blade 18 compare to other laptops
"The Apple MacBook Pro 16 2023: M2 Max challenges GeForce RTX 3080 Ti. The new MacBook Pro 16 2023 with the M2 Max SoC is the most powerful laptop Apple has on sale right now. While we do not get the expected performance and efficiency improvements from completely new 3 nm chips, which we expected ahead of the launch, the 2023 model is still a solid update. The CPU of the M2 Max can be up to 20 % faster than the old model and we also see an advantage of 25-30 % for the GPU with 38 cores. However, both components also consume more power, so the efficiency did not change that much under maximum load."
"Razer made a powerful laptop in the Blade 18, showing off a beautiful and fast display and the same high-quality build we’ve come to expect from this product line. It’s also quite expensive, which is hardly a surprise, but bears repeating even in this price range. It’s pricier than the Scar 18 despite an inferior GPU and half the storage, so you really have to want the Blade 18’s design to justify the cost."
Get a great deal on the Apple MacBook Pro 16 (2021) or the Razer Blade 18
About Apple
Apple, an American technology company, is one of the world’s largest company in terms of market capitalization. Their MacBook laptops feature a slim, minimalistic design, class-leading battery life, and premium display and speaker quality. In 2020 Apple switched from using Intel processors to their own silicon chips which have excellent performance and efficiency. The macOS operating system is the second most widely used OS, after Windows.
About Razer
Razer is an American-Singaporean technology company. Razer is best known for their Blade series laptops, well known for their strong performance and sleek design. Although Razer charges a premium price tag for their laptops, buyers can expect a stealthy laptop with clean fit and finish and strong performance. All of their models offer great portability and build quality compared to other gaming laptops.
This information was produced and vetted by the PerfectRec laptops team. We are a product research and recommendation organization that meticulously reviews and evaluates the latest laptop information and makes it digestible for you.
By the numbers
380
Laptops evaluated
48,640
Laptops stats compiled
13
Proprietary Laptops ratings developed
102,795
Recommendations made
22,273
Consumer hours saved
About the laptop team
Joe Golden, Ph.D
CEO and Laptops Editor
Joe is an entrepreneur and lifelong electronics enthusiast with a Ph.D in Economics from the University of Michigan.
Jason Lew
Staff Expert & Software Engineer
Jason is a staff expert and software engineer that has been making laptop recommendations for 7 years and moderates one of the largest laptop subreddits.
Chandradeep Chowdhury
Staff Expert & Software Engineer
Chandradeep is a staff expert and software engineer and expert in televisions and monitors. He’s been making monitor recommendations for ten years.
Craig Russell
Laptops Expert
Craig is a UK-based laptops expert. Craig works in IT, where he recommends and supports laptops and PCs for clients and has been recommending laptops on Reddit for five years.